"Will Not Hesitate": Julani Warns Officials Of Assad Regime
Damascus, Syria: Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, ordered new dispensation for senior officials who were responsible for torture and abuse in the previous regime. The new declaration came following the freeing of Sadnaya prison, the most notorious prison locally known as “human slaughter house” for its method of torture under the Assad regime.
Sharaa met outgoing Prime Minister Mohammed of the country al-Jalali “to coordinate a transfer of power that guarantees the provision of services” to Syria’s people, a statement posted on the opposition faction’s Telegram channels said. The statement added that the new government “will not hesitate to hold accountable the criminals, murderers, security and army officers involved in torturing the Syrian people”.
The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled the country as the opposition faction headed by Sharaa’s HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) captured major cities. Starting with Aleepo, the largest city of the country, they reached capital city Damascus within a week.
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The opposition faction declared the start of a “new era”, as the more than 50 years of Asad rule ended. Thousands took to celebrate the fall of the regime. It was also a rebirth for thousands of prisoners in Syria, most of whom were jailed for dissent.
The most notorious among the prisons is Sadnaya prison, which is believed to have levels underground with trapped prisoners. Opposition faction and Civil Defence of the country has freed all the inmates of the prison. However, over 1,500 are still suspected to be underground, which appear hard to reach. The rescue workers are jagging holes in the walls to get to the other side of the prison.
Thousands gathered outside the prison, hoping to find their missing and jailed loved ones coming out of the prison.
The movement against the Bashar al-Assad regime began in 2011, but he imposed a heavy crack down, killing about half a million people and forcing many more to flee the country. With support from allies Russia and Iran, Assad managed to stave off any rebel offensive for over a decade. But with his allies occupied in wars in Ukraine and Gaza, Assad was exposed and the rebels did not miss the opportunity. As the rebel tanks rolled into Damascus, Assad fled Syria and curtains came down on the five-decade rule of his clan.
Reportedly, over 1 lakh inmates are believed to have died, including executions and natural deaths, in Syrian prisons during the Assad rule, as per 2021 report by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Of them, more than 30,000 died in Sadnaya alone. An Amnesty International investigation found that “murder, torture, enforced disappearances and extermination carried out at Saydnaya since 2011 have been perpetrated as part of an attack against the civilian population that has been widespread, as well as systematic, and carried out in furtherance of state policy”.
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Syria’s parliament, earlier pro-Assad, has said it supports “the will of the people to build a new Syria towards a better future governed by law and justice”. Baath party has said it will support “a transitional phase in Syria aimed at defending the unity of the country.”
HTS which led the rebel groups’ rebellion, was earlier banned by Western for its links with Al-Qaeda. Over the years, the organisation has tried to soften its image. Sharaa claimed that the designation is not fair as his groups has separated from the extremists organisation like Al-Qaeda years before.
